Afghanistan: Polio this week as of 17 January 2018

Afghanistan

• One new case of wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) was reported this week from Spinboldak district, Kandahar province. Onset of this latest case was 28 December 2017.
• The total number of officially reported WPV1 cases in Afghanistan in 2017 is now 14.
• Five new WPV1 positive environmental samples were reported this week. Three samples were collected in Jalalabad district, Nangarhar province, one on 25 December and two on 26 December. One sample was collected in Asadabad district, Kunar province, on 25 December, and one sample was collected in Lashkargah district, Hilmand province, on 6 December.
• A vaccination campaign using bOPV is taking place this week, targeting over five million children.
• Read the latest polio update from Afghanistan to see information on cases, surveillance and vaccination campaigns.

Pakistan

• No new cases of wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) were reported in the past week. The most recent case (by date of onset) was reported in Zhob district, Balochistan province, with onset on 15 November 2017.
• The total number of officially reported WPV1 cases in Pakistan in 2017 remains eight.
• Three new WPV1 positive environmental samples were reported this week. Two were collected in Balochistan province, one in Zhob district on 18 December, and one in Quetta district on 20 December. One sample was collected from Lahore district, Punjab province, on 18 December.
• A nationwide vaccination campaign using bOPV is currently taking place, vaccinating over 37 million children, and placing particular emphasis on reaching travelling and missed children.
• Read the latest polio update from Pakistan to see information on cases, surveillance and vaccination campaigns.

Nigeria

• No new cases of wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) were reported in the past week. The total number of WPV1 cases for 2016 remains four and no cases have been reported in 2017. The most recent case (by date of onset) was reported in Monguno Local Government Area, Borno, with onset on 21 August 2016.
• Nigeria continues to implement an emergency response to the detected WPV1 strain and circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) strains affecting the country (last detected in 2016).
• The next round of sub-national immunization days are planned for late January.
• Detection of polio cases in Nigeria underscores the risk posed by low-level undetected transmission. As part of the emergency response, subnational surveillance continues to be strengthened.

Lake Chad Basin

• The detection of wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) (Borno state, Nigeria in 2016) and circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) (Borno and Sokoto states in 2016) continue to pose a risk to the neighbouring countries of the Lake Chad basin.
• Emergency outbreak response efforts continue across the Lake Chad basin, together with activities to fill subnational surveillance gaps across the region.
• These activities include efforts to vaccinate children at markets, in internally displaced persons camps, and at international borders.
• Phase 3 of outbreak response is being launched in January 2018, taking into account the recommendations made during the November Outbreak Response Assessments for the countries and the Technical Advisory Group meeting in December. The objective is to maintain and improve the multi-national, regional outbreak response across the Lake Chad basin region, in particular improving operations, reach and surveillance among hard-to-reach areas and populations.
• Read the latest polio update from the Lake Chad Basin to see information on surveillance and vaccination campaigns.

Central Africa

• Five new cases of circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) were confirmed this week in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). All the cases were reported from Tanganyika province. Three cases were located in Ankoro district with onset dates on 11 November, 18 November, and 25 November, and two cases were located in Manono district, with onset on 19 November and 20 November.
• The total number of officially reported cVDPV2 cases in the DRC in 2017 is now 17.
• Outbreak response continues to take place across the country, including use of monovalent oral polio vaccine type 2 (mOPV2) in line with internationally-agreed outbreak response protocols. Children living in the districts where the latest cases were reported were last targeted with mOPV2 during December vaccination days.
• Surveillance and immunization activities continue to be strengthened in neighbouring countries.
• Read the latest polio update from the DRC to see information on surveillance and vaccination campaigns.
• Learn more about vaccine-derived polioviruses through this short animation.

The Middle East

• No new cases of circulating vaccine derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) were reported this week. The most recent case (by date of onset) was reported in Boukamal district, with onset on 21 September 2017.
• The total number of officially reported cVDPV2 cases in Syria in 2017 remains 74. The first round of the second phase of the outbreak response started this week in Deir Ez-Zor, Raqqah, and Hasakah governorates.
• Vaccination teams have adjusted the timing of daily activities according to the prevailing security situation in the region. Teams are beginning activities at sunrise and are returning empty mOPV2 vials on the morning of the next campaign day, to allow more time for vaccination visits.
• Read the latest polio update from Syria to see information on cases, surveillance and vaccination campaigns.
• Learn more about vaccine-derived polioviruses through this short animation.